There were a few more hours left of the sun being out so we headed to the training grounds expecting to find Ghaston there waiting for us but found it empty. In fact there were no servants or other beast masters in general around the training grounds which made me wonder if we were supposed to be there for a minute but then remembered who I was with and realized we can go wherever we want.
They had multiple training dummies as well as a couple target ranges. I wanted to test out all of the new spells I just learned as well as get some shots in on a target to make sure I keep my aim improving each day. If you had been watching from a distance you would have seen four kids walk into a training grounds in casual clothes one moment, the four in obsidian armor the next moment.
"Adam, check out your weapon! Pyranha's Teeth!" I cast the spell onto his katana and the material suddenly looked smoother than it had been. Not that it wasn't smooth but it seemed to take on an extra level of shine as if it had hardened. Wispy told me it worked that his gold katana weapon would now hit 10% harder.
"Pyranha's Teeth gives a 10% increase to damage for gold weapons like your katana." I pointed out. Adam looked at me in confusion then looked at his katana.
"That explains why this katana one shots everything. Abby's dad never said it was a gold rank weapon." Adam said in response to his confusion. "Wait, you said for gold weapons what does it do for less than gold weapons?"
"Pyranha's Teeth will increase the weapon by one rank so platinum will now be gold, with iron becoming bronze at minimum." I proudly informed the group. I then shot my first ever arcane barrage from my bow at the ranged target and it became my new go to. The attack had a delayed attack element to it that would throw everyone off plus it encircled the target. So the arrow would connect with the target then explode out into six spikes of arcane energy that would surround the target and come together at all different angles back to the original point it touches.
For instance firing at a shielded beast master they would think that the shield would defend against the incoming arrow then the spikes but would get impaled from the back and sides to connect back at the shield. This would become my goto as the chances of surviving the attack were small as long as I made contact with the shot.
I then shot another goto for me going forward which Ghaston had just taught me unbeknownst to him. The first was a defensive spell called Blind which I experienced first hand from the light cheetahs during the tournament. The target suddenly had a bright light hit it and the arrow flew true as an arrow till the connection then it became a ball of light on the target.
The offensive spell I learned from Ghaston was Blades of Light. This spell had two sabers appear the moment the arrow past the handle and the sabers flew with great force into the target. They didn't have the rise and fall of the arrow as it appeared to be a straight line attack which was something I paid close attention to. What I didn't know till later on was how light spells only really worked on shadow beasts in terms of doing damage.
We all worked up a sweat and a hunger so we headed back to the dining room we had previously eaten in. So far only two rooms have been visited but I wasn't going to complain, I learned multiple spells in just my first day. Once again we had a meal that was made of an arcane beast meat, this time it was bison meat marinated in an arcane energy potion. Adam and I would have the same meals but the girls had differences showing how closely they were paying attention to what we ate.
Dinner was amazing and we decided to head for a stroll to relax versus working out again. I wanted to work out again but the girls suggested and won their idea as Adam agreed that working out once a day was enough. One part of me wishes they would have listened to me, the other was glad they didn't.
We were strolling through their garden that featured all sorts of fruits and vegetables that had magical properties. I never knew so many different types of plants were even available to increase different aspects of your build through food. Maddy was describing them as we went and grabbing a random berry or fruit to test and have us try as well. We had spent nearly an hour meandering around just the four of us when it happened.
"Looks like I owe 100 dragbars since I never would have thought you would be stupid enough to leave yourselves vulnerable. This is going to be easier than I would have ever imagined." A man wearing servants' clothes suddenly appeared from behind one of the plants about 30 yards away from us. When he finished his sentence nine others all appeared from behind plants surrounding us.
I know for a fact I had never felt threatened as much as I felt in that moment. My armor was up and on my body before everyone else's and Wispy appeared next to my head emanating all seven elemental colors, something I had never seen Wispy do but I feel like it was him trying to show how strong he is.
'You have the full authority of the Kilthred kingdom to do whatever you need to in order to keep Maddy and Abby safe, you understand?' I informed Wispy.
'No one is going to touch any of you' Wispy responded.
"Boss, you said we were going against some kids, that kid has obsidian armor on. You know most of us are barely silver, mostly bronze though. That means even if they are iron only the silver attacks will work and I am guessing these kids aren't iron, who would waste obsidian armor on iron students." One of the servants spoke up, obviously the smartest in the group as he understood how screwed they were.
"Shut up and attack them. It's ten on four. We don't need to capture them, just kill them." The first one to speak who I can assume now is the boss who spoke that sentence. One of the others decided he was going to be the first to act. That decision was his last decision as his body made a movement to attack and Wispy sent an arcane barrage instantly six arcane spikes surrounding the servant's body and pierced him six different directions. The scene caused the two closest to him to freak out and run away.
It was now seven on four, "Don't you dare run away you cowards, you will pay for betrayal!" The boss shouted at the two that were running back towards the castle. They didn't make it far as Lacy appeared in front of their exit and quickly lunged for the throat of the first then ran down the second. Chasing the second till Lacy was able to jump on his back and slam him into the ground then bite his neck snapping his head off.
Adam blinked behind the boss servant and this time slicing through the mid section he cleanly split the man in two. The man went to say something but looked down realizing he was now in two and never spoke anything as his body crumbled to the ground. Adam then lunged forward to the closest servant who had summoned his own cat beast. I never knew what type of cat it was but it didn't matter for long as Dante appeared and ate it quickly while Adam had a brief exchange of weapons before getting the killing blow which was a slice to the throat.
I had turned around and started targeting the servants that were behind us. My first arcane barrage connected and did exactly what I thought it would happen. The servant tried to block the arcane spikes that it could see but the ones from behind did him in. The lack of armor helped tremendously for this attack as well since their bodies were exposed at all angles.
I never thought my first kill would be before my eleventh birthday but that is the world we live in. The academies would do their best to shield us till our fourth year where the arena's defensive spell would no longer protect to the level it currently does, only preventing instant death. The fact remained that most beast masters wouldn't kill someone till they were fifteen or older, so ten year olds like Abby was when she got her first and now Adam and myself right before we turn eleven.
The servants had attacked with everything they had but not one attack had done anything to any of us. Wispy blocked any attack that could be fatal to any of us whether it was a powerful spell or a sneak attack. The spells and weapons that weren't going to be fatal ended up deflecting off our obsidian armor. With all four of us being bronze the servants needed to be platinum to do anything to us which none of them were.
Abby had two servants attacking her with short swords to clash with her saber. The problem was Abby knew that they couldn't harm her so she ignored half of the attacks and kept going after their weak points. The problem was they were both doing a good job of defending each other. The fight only came to an end when I hit the closest to me with a chain lightning attack that stunned both of them. Abby didn't hold back and beheaded both.
The fact that Abby sliced off both heads with no remorse. The fact that she did it and had no reaction showed just how much we all had changed in our first year. The thoughts of her puking her head off when she killed that boy who tortured Lacy to now slicing off grown men heads was a stark contrast. It also displayed how serious this situation was as she was quickly assessing the battlefield to see who to help next.
With only two servants left and the four of us not even hurt they both started to plead for their lives. At that moment I felt absolutely nothing for those two, looking back on them I should have felt bad for their situation but also they were grown men attacking kids. The one was literally pissing his pants knowing he was about to die.
"Who sent you to kill us?" Abby asked them with a calmer voice than even Maddy expected as she gave Abby a look of awe. The one who pissed his pants stuttered a response, "We are blessed by Oriseye, Oriseye will give us salvation!" It was then that I realized they were religious nuts.
"Who is the Oriseye?" I asked, more intrigued than anything else but also thought it was a valid question.
"It's their whacko deity that they believe gave us the ability to meld with beasts. The Oriseye is the god of beasts and they have a cult following with their own book with prophecies that are so generic that they are bound to happen just by pure coincidence." Maddy informed us, in response to my question.
"You know for being a kid of two plant beasts and of renown you really don't know much about the world we live in." Adam pointed out, I just laughed at the fact that I really didn't care about that stuff. To me it felt like useless information that my brain didn't need to ever remember.
"Wait a book of prophecies, is that why they are attacking kids? Are you guys in their prophecies? Is that why you two can't use your father's last name at the academy?" I was full of questions which didn't need to be answered currently as we still had these two servants in front of us that had just tried to kill us.
Royal guards came running up having heard the noise and seeing the dead bodies of the servants that had tried to run away but were slain by Lacy. The royal guards seeing the four of us in our armor knowing who we were looked at the two servants on their knees with their hands behind their heads and weapons on the ground gave us a confused look.
"What happened here?" The one guard asked.
Maddy lowered her armor to show that she was the princess and proceeded to inform the royal guard of how they were surrounded and the ten had tried to kill them. As she spoke the words that the one had said to kill us two of the guards simultaneously beheaded the two servants. It was as if that was the signal to say your life is forfeit. We all lowered our armor and the royal guards bowed to us and started cleaning up the bodies.
The adrenaline rush suddenly stopped flowing through my veins and the realization of what we just did hit me and I puked whatever was left in my stomach at that point. One of the royal guards almost had a solemn tone to his comment "Let it out kid, the first is always the worst." Adam claims it was because of the smell from mine that he puked but both of us couldn't hold it anymore.
This time it was Abby supporting Adam as he had been there for her when she went through this a few months ago. Maddy's touch made me feel instantly better, "You just used a spell on me?"
"Yeah just my life mend spell, why?" Maddy responded.
"Give one to Adam as well, I feel instantly a million times better." I informed her and she didn't hesitate and sent one to Adam who stopped puking instantly and stood up looking at Maddy wording with mouth a 'thank you'.
Prince Austin came running up next and had a look of deep concern. "Oh thank the Oriseye you are ok!" Abby gave her father a fierce look which he had no idea what he just said wrong.
"The Oriseye is who sent them!" Abby retorted to a shocked prince not fully comprehending what his daughter meant.
"Wait, what are you talking about the Oriseye sent them?" The monarch inquired.
"The last two surrendered till the royal guard were told of their intentions but they said that they were blessed by the Oriseye and that the Oriseye will give them salvation." Abby replied.
"What else did they say?" The prince wanted to know the full story so Abby retold the fact that we were enjoying the fruits and leisure when we were surrounded by the ten servants. She told her dad about what was said before the fighting and that they completely underestimated us.
"Adam and Jordan thank you so much. This is why you are here. There is a cult who has a prophecy that has forced us to go to extremes to keep our daughters safe. You two have been the latest to that security and I am glad it has happened organically as well as the fact that you both appear to be beyond special in your own rights. I was ten when I killed my first man. I didn't have a life faery to stop my puking as blood eventually started flowing for me." The sudden story from the prince caught all of us off guard.